Who's the amateur you ask? Me. I've move a few pieces of equipment, some up to about 750 lbs., but this monster weighs over 1600 lbs.
The guy who sold it to my friend has the forklift you see, so it was a piece of cake for him to load it onto the UPS Freight truck I arranged to pick it up.
In preparation for it's arrival I installed an anchor point in my friends garage, a big D-ring bolted to a piece of 5/4 oak, bolted to the floor with 1/2" x 6" Tapcon screws.
The machine was supposed to be delivered via lift gate truck to my friends house. Yesterday, however, I got a call that said the machine was too long for them to get it onto the lift gate. I was afraid of that. OK, plan B. I rented a 10' U-haul truck and went to the freight terminal this morning to pick up the machine. They drove the machine down a ramp and loaded it at ground level using two forklifts. I'm not sure why they couldn't use a single forklift like when it was loaded, but it all worked out OK.
The skid and machine just about filled the bed of the truck between the wheel wells. Off I went to my friends house with no problems, about 15 miles away. I backed the truck up close to his garage shop, close enough that 8', 4x4's would reach to the floor. Then I built this little ramp from 4x4's screwed together, braced it to the ground at the bumper, and ratchet strapped it to the bumper of the truck. I backed my car up to the front of the truck and ran the winch cable under the truck, thru the ramp, and to a chain attached to my anchor point. I used a snatch block to run the cable back up to the skid.
Then it was just a matter of pulling the skid down the ramps, slowly, readjusting the attachment point of the snatch block on the chain when the cable end got close to jamming into it.
But it all went smoothly and I think the entire operation from the time I left home was only a couple of hours. And here is what he has.
It's a 16" Zefam. His little 8" Jet is looking mighty puny and nervous now. When my friend gets back from FL in the Spring we'll get it pulled off the pallet and into final position. Then it will be time to figure out how to hook up the VFD he bought to power the 3 phase motor that's in this beast. I have to say, it is a beautiful looking machine, and those planed tables are gorgeous.
All in all, it was a very simple process. Having the winch is what made it all possible. I suppose I could have used a come-along or chain fall, but that would have been a very slow process. But you use what you have and it's possible for even an amateur like me to move some pretty big stuff safely. So if you see a monster machine, don't shy away just because it's heavy. And in the end, if you can't move it yourself, there are plenty of people you can pay who do it all the time.
John
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Originally Posted by Edwin Santos
